Sci-Fi Drama I Origins And Rom Com Obvious Child Among Early Sundance Acquisitions

With Sundance now in full swing, the distribution deals are coming out of the woodwork, and we’ll assume that woodwork will eventually go into building a nice cabin in Park City. Two of the more recent acquirements involve a highly anticipated follow-up and a directorial debut. Fox Searchlight Pictures has picked up Another Earth director Mike Cahill’s sci-fi drama I Origins, while A24 has snatched up the rights to the offbeat romantic comedy Obvious Child from director Gillian Robespierre. Hooray for indies!

As ComingSoon reports, Fox Searchlight plans on putting out I Origins at some point in 2014. It’s a timeless enough tale, as it seems "science vs. faith" will probably always be meaty subject matter. In the film, Boardwalk Empire’s Michael Pitt plays a molecular biologist who is obsessed with finding a way to scientifically explain the human eye, which the faithful consider to be proof of God’s existence. His lab partner is played by Brit Marling, who reteams with Cahill for their third film together, and he falls in love with a model played by Astrid Berges-Frisbey.

Cahill’s debut feature Another Earth premiered at Sundance in 2011 and instantly put the director in the limelight in the realm of indie sci-fi with a brain behind it. I Origins premiered Saturday to mostly positive reviews, calling the film original and smart, though it of course had its detractors. I suppose that split will continue once the film hits theaters. Here are a couple of the film’s first stills below.

Meanwhile, Robespierre based Obvious Child on her 2009 short film of the same name. It stars comedian Jenny Slate (House of Cards) as a comedian (!!) in Brooklyn who finds herself on the wrong side of the stick when she gets dumped, fired from her job and pregnant one right after the other just as Valentine’s Day is coming. For those lighthearted folks, this is a film that also involves abortion, so be warned. It premiered Friday and received the same kind of split opinions as I Origins. I can’t imagine an abortion-based rom com would do that. Oh wait.

Obvious Child also stars David Cross, Jake Lacy and Gabby Hoffman, who is making quite the indie comeback after winning over audiences in Crystal Fairy. As Deadline reports, this is the second film A24 has acquired, with Lynn Sheldon’s Laggies picked up the other day. They plan on releasing the film in theaters later this year. And here are a few stills that steer clear of anything controversial.